In the game of golf, it has long been known and acknowledged that putting the ball on the green is a very integral part of the game. The putting makes up about half of the scoring in the game. Errors, or poor putting, is very damaging to the golfer""s score. Many efforts have been made to help learn the skill of putting and most of these efforts have been directed to the golfer""s swing, follow through, and gentle touch put on the putter when putting the ball across the green. There have been numerous aids or devices developed for the golfer to learn how to putt successfully. Putting pads (simulating greens), mirrors, laser beams, restricting boxes, arm straps, and numerous other innovations have been tried and have met with some success (action on the putter). The experienced golfer has difficulty at times reading these routes exactly. The experienced and professional golfers take years to learn the geographic and mathematical knowledge for this skill.
Teaching devices helped the golfer learn the putting stroke. However, if the golfer can stroke the ball perfectly he must also be able to determine the speed the ball needs to move and the route it takes to reach the hole. This must be read as a straight line and the contour of the land it must travel taken into account and evaluated. This takes skill and knowledge combined. This means he must read the undulations, slopes, downhill and uphill contours the ball will travel to reach the hole. If this is not determined correctly or xe2x80x9creadxe2x80x9d properly there is a good probability that the shot will be missed even though the golfer had the perfect swing pattern. As mentioned above the speed of the ball is also very important. The ball must have the momentum to get to the hole and yet if it has too much momentum or speed it may pass far beyond the hole even if the path is correct. It may pass over the hole and beyond the hole a long distance requiring another contour evaluation and another shot.
The speed of the green is determined by a variety and a surprisingly number of factors. The heighth of the grass, dampness, grass type, cutting of the grass, amount of wear, wind, etc all affect the speed of the green. The official speed of the green has been determined and given a number grade by using a Stimpmeter. This instrument was developed by Mr. Stimp in 1937 in England. It is still used today and considered the xe2x80x9cstandardxe2x80x9d method.
These Stimpmeters are used by the large golf courses and their greens graded. They are expensive and smaller golf courses do not have these determinations. They are large and cumbersome and the general public does not have access to these unless they purchase the stimpmeter personally. It is for these reasons I have developed the following device for the average golfer. I feel it would be beneficial to help the golfer learn to read the greens. It is to be used only as a learning device and not used in a game.
The putting portion of the game of golf accounts for half or more of the score. The winner of the golf game is the golfer with the lowest score. Since putting is so important and makes up such a large portion of the final score, the golfer must be a good at putting the ball in order to compete. No efforts have been made to give the putter methods to improve his ability to read the greens.
This new invention is presented and will be a good teaching way to speed up his learning process for reading the greens speed and contour. A tubular device that has a spring loaded plunger or piston to propell the ball out of the opposite end of the tube in a straight line. The plunger or piston has different stops where the tension of the spring is changed to allow different speeds and distances the ball will travel. Between 5 and 10 stops have been suggested for different distances and the first 2-3 stops can be used as a stimpmeter which will help determine the speed of each green.
The distance the ball travels is in a straight line and is always the same distance which is usually more accurate than the golfer""s putt.
Since it will always travel in the same direction, and the same speed, it can be used to check where the ball should move to gauge the contour and the speed to the hole. This will help the golfer to decide where to shoot the ball. If wrong in his evaluation then he can rethink the shot and then try again. If this is not correct, again his knowledge will improve, and he can study the shot and learn by his mistakes. The device will help him learn both the speed the ball should travel and the route it should take with the contours of the green noted.
The device has a laser beam mounted on the front and top to help with the determination of the area to shoot the ball for the contour and speed. The device can store or carry one or more golf balls which will drop into place for shooting to the designated spot. The device is small enough to fit into the golf bag for carrying it easily to other courses and greens. The propelling plunger or pusher could also be motorized and a small motor used to actuate the plunger. The motor could be battery operated or electrically operated if desired. The trigger for the plunger could also be electrical (AC or DC) and the different positions for the plunger movement and placing the ball into the chamber for discharge can all be electrically connected. The simple method of using springs is felt to be a much easier and less complicated. The main action of a plunger propelling the ball out the end of the chamber like a bullet from the end of the gun is the basic idea for the invention.
In preparation, evaluation and studying the exact putting shot that is to be made, the golfer is only human and may make a mistake in putting the ball and it may travel in the wrong direction or be the wrong speed. He then does not know if his read of the green was correct and he struck the ball improperly or he did not read the green correctly. With this device it takes out the possibility of hitting the ball wrongly and just tells him if his read was accurate and correct. He can then determine where he made the mistake and correct it, learning from the mistake. This will help him in the game when faced with the same or similar shot. Using the device on several greens and at different positions will give the golfer a very good knowledge of where and how hard to strike the ball. This should greatly improve his game score.